


all the bright, precious things fade so fast

by DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)



Series: Bruises Verse [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Angst, Bisexual Leo Fitz, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, fluff alphabet challenge, pride month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 08:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy
Summary: Extended scene fromComing To Terms.Leo decides to explore his options and goes on a date with one Matthew Scott - who is very disappointed in his lack of literature knowledge.





	all the bright, precious things fade so fast

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the fluff alphabet challenge on tumblr. None of these will be fluff. They will all be sad. I'm aware of who I am.
> 
> A - almost kiss

"Did you even _read_ the book, Fitzy? What part of _any_ of that was a remotely heterosexual love story?"

Leo rolled his eyes, his hands in his pockets while they shuffled down the sidewalk. He was smiling, which was a rare enough occurrence outside of what he supposed he really should be considering a date, after all the hours he'd already spent with the man by his side. They'd enjoyed dinner together, and ice cream, and then when the theater down the block was advertising a late night showing of the latest Gatsby adaptation, well... There had been too much excitement in Matthew's eyes for him to even think of saying no.

It was a weird kind of fascination, he supposed, the reason he was ready to give in and see a movie he knew very little about. He knew he liked Leonardo DiCaprio and that the _Titanic_ star was on his list, but his interests in school had always been maths and sciences, not literature. The story itself was vaguely familiar, from hearing Jemma talk about the schoolwork she'd done when she was younger, but he didn't know it. Even after over two hours in a theater, watching it all play out, he still felt like he didn't know it as well as he should.

"You know, some of us actually misbehaved in school. Or skipped a few grades. I was taking apart and rebuilding toasters when most people had _The Great Gatsby_ assigned to them." Leo glanced over in time to see the exact moment his companion stopped walking, and he knew almost immediately he'd said the wrong thing. That happened a lot, when he went on dates, he'd noticed.

"Wait a minute." Clearly confused, Matthew reached over to grab his arm and make him stop in his own tracks, shaking his head. "You've actually never read _Gatsby_? But you let me drag you to the movie, anyway? Leopold Fitz, you've been exposed to far too many spoilers, now, you don't have a choice. You have to read it. Right now."

Too taken aback to even try to fully understand what he meant, Leo frowned and started to shake his head, blinking to try to give himself the time to process it. Of course, that was easier said than done when they were still close enough that the blinking lights from the movie posters behind them all but danced in their reflection in the other man's otherwise dark eyes. It was almost more magical than the lights and color and music in the film they'd watched, and he was too startled to speak.

He knew he was being spoken to, that he really should be listening, but the lights were blurring his vision, and then fingers were laced between his, and he was being pulled along the sidewalk back toward campus, and he didn't care about anything else at all.

* * *

Between the theater and the doorway to Matthew's apartment, he was able to tune back in to the conversation, even if it was mostly literature babble. It wasn't the weirdest thing he'd listened to that night, it wasn't even the weirdest thing he'd heard since dessert, and it probably wouldn't be the weirdest thing he heard before he went home for the night. It was soothing, almost - during every other date he'd been on that semester, the discussions were all about work, or insulting his work, or nonexistent because he had no connection with the person across the table. Here, now, in a dim campus dormitory, he was listening to someone go on about Fitzgerald and Hemingway and Steinbeck, of all things. And he was completely enraptured by it.

"Here, I'll grab my copy and a couple drinks. Go ahead and get comfortable on the couch."

With the sudden almost quiet, Leo was too startled to move, at first, and even when he did, it was slow and careful. Unfamiliar spaces had to be handled with care, especially when he didn't know what he was or wasn't allowed to do in these situations. He'd never even gone back to a woman's place, and even entertaining the thought of a romantic relationship with a man was so foreign and new that saying yes to _ice cream_ had been terrifying.

Slowly, Leo did move over to sit down on the very edge of the couch cushion, taking a hesitant deep breath. He didn't know what to expected, and he almost started biting at the nail on his thumb before a cold bottle of beer was pressed into his palm. "You doing okay, Fitzy? You look kind of pale, and I mean like, even for you."

He was able to crack a smile at that, looking up into the brown eyes that had somehow convinced him to step so far out of his comfort zone already in one night. It wasn't fair, and he was sure he'd have the same opinion on the phenomenon if he understood it at all, because no one person should have that much power over another. It shouldn't be so easy to make him enjoy literature, or push boundaries, or ignore his anxiety.

And it shouldn't be so easy to make him smile in the middle of a crisis.

"I'm fine. I think the pizza settled a little off. I'll be okay."

He got a small nod in return, as well as an overwhelming hint of concern in the gaze that still held on to his, and it occurred to Leo that the moment was getting more intimate than he'd anticipated. Matthew's fingers were still close enough to brush his hand, and he was suddenly aware of how warm his face was, and had his lips always been so chapped? Moving too quickly, Leo pulled the beer closer and nodded his own head quietly, sinking back into the cushions while he took a small sip.

The cushions moved with more weight when Matthew sat down next to him, holding out tattered copy of a blue paperback from a safer distance. "If I loan this to you, you have to give it back. Deal? It's my favorite book and I won't go without it just because you misplace it. I will raid your lab if I need to."

Leo felt his smile return while he nodded his head, taking the book as gently as he could. It was almost heavy in his hands, even if it did seem rather thin, as books went. To be fair to himself, he was used to bigger, thicker textbooks, but this still felt so much more _important_ than some university project. "I'll get it back to you as soon as I'm done. And then I might actually sound intelligent when I try to talk about the movie."

The laugh he got in response made him look up from the cover, his breath catching in his throat. Everything was sharper, clearer, when the noise reached his ears, and there were thoughts in his head that he didn't realize he could have with anyone remotely attainable. The idea of lips on lips rarely crossed his mind, even with the other people he'd chosen to go out with, the only exceptions being the fictional or famous names he kept in his list, and those were usually saved for quiet moments alone. But Matthew's laughter made warmth fill his chest, and for maybe a moment to long, blue eyes lingered on soft, pink lips, as if that fantasy ever had any faint hope of coming true.

As it was, he got the chance to read the book but not to return it. And, sometimes, when the Bus was in the air and his bunk was quiet and there wasn't much else to think about, Leo thought he might understand why Gatsby had always had his heart set on returning to the life of _maybes_ he'd had to leave behind.


End file.
